Waldemar asks: <<Is the massive honey bee die-off ................going to
cause a major colony shortage for the upcoming almond bloom ......what will be
the reduction (%) in expected colony numbers?>>
Wish I had the answer, one of the reasons we're asking beekeepers to fill
out the survey _www.beesurvey.com_ (http://www.beesurvey.com) .
Obviously, almond growers, beekeepers are asking that question. Is the
die-off large scale - yes. I'd estimate 40-60% of colonies for some of the large
migratory beekeepers in Florida, 80% for one in Oklahoma. For individual
beekeepers, we've had losses of 1,000 - 6,000 colonies, with rumors of a loss
of 12,000 colonies in a northerneastern state by one beekeeper, last spring.
The syndrome has been seen in 16 states, fortunately not all at one time.
Some of these were in the spring or mid-summer or early fall, with some chance
of recovery by surviving colonies. That said, we know its showing up in
California - a truckload here, a yard there, etc. Most worrisome, every
beekeeper who has contacted us, says he/she knows of several others with the
problem -- but they're not reporting it.
So, total losses for U.S. in 2006 -- probably tens of thousands. Will this
impact the 500,000+ needed for almonds? All depends on what percentage of
the lost colonies migrate and when losses occurred and where. I know that
several large beekeepers from eastern and some southern states aren't going to
almonds this year, or will only be sending a fraction of the bees that normally
move. Will news of the losses cause other, more fortunate beekeepers to
fill in for any losses -- we'd hope so.
Jerry
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